Ankita Raina and Zeel Desai advance to second round in ITF W35 Kalaburagi

Kalaburagi, March 4 (IANS) Indian stars Ankita Raina and Zeel Desai advanced to the second round of the ITF W35 Kalaburagi on Wednesday with confident opening-round victories, while Karnataka’s Soha Sadiq showed early promise before bowing out after a dramatic shift in momentum at the Chandrashekhar Patil Stadium in Kalaburagi.

Eighth seed Ankita Raina produced a composed performance to defeat fellow Indian Sonal Patil 6-1, 6-3. Patil began by holding serve in the opening game, but Raina quickly took control, winning the next six games to seal the first set in commanding fashion.

The second set followed a similar pattern early on, with Raina racing to a 3-0 lead. Patil responded with determination, holding serve twice in succession to stay within striking distance. Even after Raina moved to 5-2 and looked set to close out the match comfortably, Patil battled back to make it 5-3. Raina, however, maintained her composure in the following game, finishing the match with authority to book her place in the next round.

Fifth seed Zeel Desai also progressed after a strong showing against fellow Indian Jennifer Luikham. Desai claimed the opening set 6-2 with steady baseline play and continued to dictate the rallies in the second set. Mixing delicate drop shots with powerful groundstrokes, she took a 2-1 lead before eventually closing out the match to secure her place in the second round.

Earlier in the day, Karnataka’s Soha Sadiq delighted the home crowd with a blistering start against Singapore’s Eva Marie Desvignes, surging to a 4-0 lead in the opening set. However, the tide turned dramatically as Desvignes clawed her way back into the contest, eventually winning 7-5, 6-0 to end Sadiq’s campaign despite the youngster’s promising start.

There was disappointment for another Indian contender as Shrivalli Bhamidipaty was forced to retire from her match against Elena Burdina due to a medical condition.

Top seed Jasmijn Gimbrere progressed comfortably with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Aishwarya Jadhav, while sixth seed Thasaporn Naklo also advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Valeria Savinykh. Elsewhere, Polina Kuharenko defeated Akanksha Dileep Nitture 6-2, 6-1, Anna Sedyasheva beat Sandeepthi Singh Rao 6-2, 6-4 and Elina Nepliy overcame Kashish Bhatia 6-0, 6-4.

In the doubles draw, India’s Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi partnered Japan’s Michika Ozeki to secure a convincing 6-2, 6-3 victory over the pair of Maayan Laron and Maria Mikhailova to move into the quarterfinals. Third seeds Zeel Desai and Elina Nepliy also advanced with a solid 6-3, 6-4 win against Anna Sedyasheva and Sofia Suslova.

With two more Indians joining Vaishnavi Adkar in the second round, the competition in the ITF W35 Kalaburagi is set to intensify.

--IANS

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